Creativity and the arts

Creativity and the arts Spirituality and transcendence

Architecture Artists and art history Beauty and aesthetics Celebrations and festivals Creativity Dance Film Imagination Laughter and comedy Music Painting and sculpture Philosophy of art Photography Play Poetry Stories and literature The nature of reality Theatre and performance Traditional arts

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Film

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Hollywood’s fixation on the wrong stories won’t help our world

Today’s global problems are caused by broken systems, but the studios still feed us a diet of movies focused on individuals

by Namir Khaliq

Painting of two weasels playing among trees in a vibrantly coloured landscape.

Communication and language

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For this unsung philosopher, metaphors make life an adventure

Susanne K Langer understood the indispensable power of metaphors, which allow us to say new things with old words

by Sue Curry Jansen & Jeff Pooley

A waterfall under a stormy sky with mist and a building on the left cliff surrounded by trees in the background.

Wonder and the sublime

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How to think about the sublime

An exquisite mix of fear and awe, pleasure and pain, the sublime stretches the imagination and reveals the limits of reason

by Nicole A Hall

Shadow of a person on crumpled paper in dark setting photo.

Trauma and PTSD

film

Sent to boarding school, a boy conjures up a friend to soothe his distress

A film by Tony Gammidge

Painting of an elderly couple in 16th century attire, man in fur-lined coat and woman in white headdress on green background.

Love

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There’s no good reason to love each other – and that’s a relief

Loving is an unreasonable decision (we are all extremely unpleasant little beasts) and that’s what allows it to survive

by John Kaag

A joyful athlete wearing a gold medal holds his hands to his cheeks standing in front of an Olympic rings background.

Goals and motivation

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Here’s how to use your imagination to prepare for any task

From sport to public speaking, the link between mental imagery and actual performance is undeniable – and you can harness it

by Jonathan Rhodes

Photo of an athlete in a white jacket with a gold medal, smiling with hands on face against an Olympic rings backdrop.

Goals and motivation

guide

Here’s how to use your imagination to prepare for any task

From sport to public speaking, the link between mental imagery and actual performance is undeniable – and you can harness it

by Jonathan Rhodes

Woman in a white dress standing in front of a geometric quilt in a garden setting with trees in the background.

Traditional arts

film

Beauty is woven into everyday life for the quilters of the American West

A film by Carly Jakins and Jared Jakins

An ancient Greek clay jug with red stripes and inscriptions against a dark background.

Communication and language

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I am an article about the speaking objects of ancient Greece

Talkative drinking cups and threatening oil flasks tell us how the written word asserted its authority in an oral society

by Teddy Fassberg

Photo of an abandoned brick building with graffiti on its walls broken windows and overgrown plants in the foreground.

Painting and sculpture

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Works of urban graffiti are not vandalism, but public monuments

They might appear to have little in common with statues or obelisks, but graffiti images serve a vital public function

by Rafael Schacter

Photo of two men in dark clothing sitting and smiling at a round table in a dimly lit room with glasses.

Stories and literature

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How to tell a better story

Personal stories have the power to connect, entertain, persuade. Use a pro storyteller’s tips to pick and prepare a great one

by Micaela Blei

An elderly woman in a patterned beanie holding a red card with holes punched into it in front of her face.

Artists and art history

film

Circles possess a defiant beauty in the abstract works of Howardena Pindell

Directed by César Martínez Barba